Kotetsujou no Kabaneri (甲鉄城のカバネリ) or Kabaneri of The Iron Fortress is anime series done by Wit Studio which was created by producers of Production I.G. It’s a subsidiary of IG Port and IG Port itself is a merge between Production I.G. and a manga publisher Mag Garden.

Kotetsujou no Kabaneri is directed by Tetsuro Araki who also did Attack on Titan and Attack on Titan was also done by the same studio, Wit Studio. They also Owanari no Seraph for both seasons.

Synopsis

Koutetsujou no Kabaneri is set on fictional Japan during industrialisation revolution with a touch of post-apocalyptic world where it suffers from a zombie-like epidemic named Kabane. One bite from Kabane is what it takes to turn you into another Kabane, an aggressive undead creatures; it’s not your typical slow moving zombies.

On the island of Hinomoto, a young man named Ikoma who lost his family to Kabane works as a mechanic at Hayajiro train station. The train station also serves as a shelter for survivors to protect themselves from Kabane. Ikoma develops and does a research on his own to develop a weapon called Tsuranukizutsu which can pierce Kabane heart protected by iron shield using nail-like gun powered by steam.

Another day another station falls to the hand of Kabane and it’s just a matter of time before his home got invaded by Kabane. Among others, he is probably the only one who is not scared of Kabane. Despite being chased by one, he runs into his home, grabs the gun he recently invented and on guard of incoming Kabane. The Kabane got him on a surprise attack from the roof. The two struggles to kill each other and Ikoma managed to shoot the Kabane with his steam gun. It pierces its heart and dies.

Unlucky for Ikoma, his hand got bitten. The disease quickly spreads throughout his body and it’s only a matter of time before he turns into one. He thinks that as long as it doesn’t spread to his brain, he has a chance to survive. He quickly binds his arm with a piece of steel and around his neck to prevent the infection from going into his brain. His efforts bear a fruit and the infection stopped.

On the other side of town, a little girl named Mumei who came with his uncle watched the town got overrun by Kabane in matter of seconds. Her uncle got bitten and told Mumei to go to Koutetsujou for next plan then killed hisself. Mumei ran quickly and despite her children like posture and she easily killed a Kabane easily like it was nothing.

Thoughts

The series director and the studio behind this series speak for themselves in term of quality. The animation was done really well and hopefully, the quality persists throughout the series.

The story plot is pretty straightforward based on first few episodes and it’s just like any other zombie type TV series, it’s a matter of survival, however, this one has an added touch of a super human power and there’s a chance that it may look into it deeper in term of being accepted as half human-half kabane. A quick comparison is probably Inuyasha who is a half youkai and half human and not being accepted on either side.

During first three episodes, it introduces some character developments of Ikoma and any character development is alway a welcome addition as its depth into the story and a way to get the character further.

There’s not much we know about Mumei at this point. She’s certainly a capable and a powerful ally but nothing has been revealed about her past yet.

I think this series has a major potential to be come to a big/main stream as I’ve seen quite a few of Mumei cosplayers. Even if you’re not a fan of the story/theme, Mumei alone might be enough to keep you watching this series. Her personality is one of her main strong points and possible the main attraction of this series.

Lastly, if you’re a fan of Egoist, you will definitely enjoy the OP and ED of this series.

With that said, I highly recommend this series added to your watch list for this Spring 2016 anime season. What do you think about this series so far ? let me know by commenting below.